


Dear Children

by LadyBrooke



Category: The Father Christmas Letters - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:20:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23841409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyBrooke/pseuds/LadyBrooke
Summary: Being a letter from Father Christmas and friends, and a translation from an Elvish history.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5
Collections: Unsent Letters 2020





	Dear Children

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Narya (Narya_Flame)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narya_Flame/gifts).



> In keeping with the formatting of the book, bold and italics are used to distinguish Kurha (Polar Bear) and Ilbereth from the rest. 
> 
> PB is bold, Ilbereth is italics. I’m the beginning section (letter, until the signature), plain text is Father Christmas. In the latter section (translation from elvish history book), plain text is the translation.

Cliff House, North Pole

December 4th 1992

Dear children, 

I was very pleased to receive your letters. PB has recovered completely from the battle with the goblins last year and the house has not been destroyed again (thankfully, the goblins appear to be staying far away). Thank you for the pictures you sent after hearing the goblins set fire to the pictures we had hanging on the walls. PB has placed his on the wall in the kitchen, Ilbereth’s in the study, and I have placed mine in the store room. 

They are quite good pictures, there was no need for the apologies in your letters. PB was especially cheered by the one of his family. 

To answer your questions, there are histories written of the wars with the goblins, but they are all written in Arktik or Elvish, and would need to be translated before you could read them, or you would need to learn those languages. PB slipped a grammar for both into your presents

**You knew.**

but do not be discouraged if you cannot read them yet by the time we write again. Both are unrelated to any language you speak 

_ No, they are not.  _

or, at least, unrelated enough that you would need many years of study before you could find the linkages. 

But nonetheless, we have found a way to answer your questions. 

_ I have enclosed a page copied and translated from one of the great works of the elves regarding our fights with the goblins. Unlike our more famous cousins and their battles with orcs, I do not believe any of our works have yet graced the shelves of your bookstores - but then again, Makalaurë has always been prone to telling his stories to anyone who will listen. We have always been less prone to self-praise. _

**Wrong.**

_ Rude.  _

Please pay no mind to the ink blots. 

If you have any more questions, dear children, please write - only bear 

**Ha!**

in mind that messengers are infrequent in the summers. 

I hope you shall enjoy the books. I have sent most you requested, and a few you did not. 

_ You sent them the ones about my cousins, did you not? _

Not quite. 

**He sent ones about rings and dwarves.**

_ Of course.  _

Pay no mind to Ilbereth’s comments. I assure you, the books are not as bad as he would make it sound.

_ No, only my cousins are.  _

**You love them.**

_ I will bring your relatives back for a visit, and feed them your cake. _

**Yes.**

_ Why? _

They really do love each other and their families (why, Ilbereth brings his cousin here for the party each year - the lad’s family is over the starry road, and the North Pole is a much easier place to reach. Family quibbles, as I’m sure you know given the disagreements you told me about, are nothing compared to the love one holds for them. And his help was quite appreciated last year, even if his hatred of the goblins quite surpasses even PB’s) 

I have some trinkets for your stockings as well as the books, and I hope you all shall continue to write for a few more years yet. 

Very much love to you all, 

Father Christmas

**Polar Bear**

_ Ilbereth _

  
  


Fire In The Trees: Being An Account of the Forty-Second War Between the Elves and the Goblins, with Translator’s Notes by _Ilbereth_ **and Kurha**

> **[42? Why not million?**
> 
> _ Because it was not the millionth war. _
> 
> **Children not care.**
> 
> _ They would not have asked if they did not care.  _
> 
> (Incomprehensible scribbles, crossed out, fill the page)
> 
> _ Apologies. The Polar Bear has agreed to write fewer comments.  _
> 
> **But not no comments.**
> 
> _ That is one.]  _

Upon the return of Goblins to the Great North Beyond the Waves, 

> **[There are waves here.**
> 
> _ There is ice.  _
> 
> **Beneath the ice.**
> 
> _ Elves cannot see those waves, and do not account for them in our names.  _
> 
> **Rude.]**

the elves departed their homes and returned to the sites of their old battlegrounds, among them the Battle Under the Pines and the Battle Amidst the Icicles. 

> _ [I believe these battles would correspond to roughly the time period of the Battle of Hastings. Elves do not count our ages according to the same calendar as you do.  _
> 
> **Neither does Old Nick.**
> 
> _ That explains much. _
> 
> **What?**
> 
> _ Why he is never quite sure of his age when children ask, for one.]  _

Goblins, it must be understood, do not obey the same rules of war as Elves. They spy and sneak, and slink their way through tunnels burrowed through the ground like rather large rats, a manner of traveling that even the most despised Elves have not used. 

> **[Who?**
> 
> _ Who what? _
> 
> **Who are the despised Elves?**
> 
> _ That’s not important for this translation. We still have paragraphs to go.  _
> 
> **Won’t fit.**
> 
> _ Not if you keep commenting.] _

Goblins, on the other hand, are seldom to be found approaching above ground. Indeed, one of the first signs that a battle approaches is when large amounts of such disreputable beings are found in fields and forests, outside of their natural habitats. 

This was, in fact, the first sign of Second Battle Under the Pines. 

> **[When was that?**
> 
> _ During the Forty-Second War. The one we are translating about.  _
> 
> **First battle?**
> 
> _ Let me see - ah, here it was. The First Battle Under the Pines occurred when Arthur was King.  _
> 
> **Which Arthur?**
> 
> _ I do not know, but this book assured me the children will know who he is. Kindly send a note if it is not clear, I shall edit any future work.] _

The second sign of the battle was when the Goblins set fire to the trees. 

> **[Good of them.**
> 
> _ Good? _
> 
> **Sneaky goblins. Could have lit tents on fier.**
> 
> _ They could have refrained from lighting anything on fire.] _

The elves greatly loved the trees, many of which they had watched grow from saplings into the proud trees now screaming in pain.

> **[Trees don’t scream.**
> 
> _ Not to your ears, at least. To elves, we could hear their pain that day.  _
> 
> **You weren’t there.**
> 
> _ My mother was.] _

It was only the actions of Grandfather Yule overhead that saved them, throwing wax coated bags of water from his sleigh until the fires stopped. 

> _ [I told you this would happen.  _
> 
> **What?**
> 
> _ There is no more room on the paper. Look, the paragraph in the book is far too long to write into the space remaining.  _
> 
> **Not my fault.**
> 
> _ Of course it is your fault. I told you not to write _

**Author's Note:**

> Credit to [La_Temperanza’s](https://archiveofourown.org/users/La_Temperanza/pseuds/La_Temperanza) How to Mimic Letters, Fliers, and Stationery Without Using Images tutorial for the formatting.
> 
> I wish I could have done images like Tolkien’s, but well, he was far more skilled than I am at that.


End file.
